Palestinians killed in refugee camp

Four Palestinians and an Israeli army officer have been killed in exchanges of fire around the Ain Bait Ilma refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Nablus, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said.

06 Jul 2004 04:51 GMT

Israeli troops and a helicopter gunship carried out the raid

The shooting occurred early on Tuesday during an attack by an elite wing of the Israeli occupation army on the camp. Three soldiers were wounded, one seriously, in the ensuing firefight.

Two of the four Palestinians were resistance fighters while the others were civilians, Palestinian security and hospital sources said.

The fighters fought from a building that was encircled by Israeli soldiers who opened fire, while a helicopter gunship fired two missiles at it, Palestinian security sources said.

PFLP fighter

One of the fighters was Yamin Faraj, 27, the local head of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). He was killed along with Amjad Aram, one of his lieutenants.

The other dead Palestinians were named as 52-year-old doctor Khalid Salah and his 15-year-old son Muhammad.

The latest deaths brought to 4159 the number of people killed since the start of the al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, including 3162 Palestinians and 925 Israelis.